Among vehicles used to remove snow from parking lots and roadways are small-to-medium-sized trucks, such as pickup trucks, with cargo capacities ranging from 500 to 4000 pounds. Such vehicles are commonly equipped with a snowplow assembly attached to the frame on the front of the vehicle. Such plow assemblies and associated mounting hardware weigh in the range of 400 to over 1500 pounds. With the plow assembly extending outwardly from the vehicle a sufficient distance to allow the blade to pivot left and right during plowing procedures, the weight of the plow, when connected to the mounting points on the front of the vehicle, redistributes a greater portion of the vehicle weight from the vehicle rear axle to the front axle. Such redistribution causes at least three significant problems.
First, the lack of sufficient weight on the rear wheels of a truck having a front mounted plow assembly causes a significant compromise in the vehicle braking ability, especially at the rear wheels. The lack of weight at the rear wheels results in a loss of traction causing the vehicle to skid rather than stop, presenting a major safety concern when the operator of the vehicle must reduce speed or stop quickly.
Secondly, a lack of sufficient weight at the rear wheels creates a loss of traction resulting in the spinning of the rear tires when the vehicle operator accelerates quickly. This is also a safety concern such as when it is necessary to accelerate quickly through a highway intersection. Loss of traction in such cases can expose the vehicle to the danger of collision and injury.
Thirdly, a loss of traction due to insufficient weight over the rear wheels results in a diminished capacity to plow heavy snow. In such circumstances, the rear tires break traction and spin out before the vehicle loses power. The vehicle has the power to push the snow, but due to the imbalance of weight from back to front, traction is lost and the snow removal task cannot be accomplished efficiently.
In the past, attempts have been made to overcome these weight transfer and loss of traction issues. It has been common to place various types of ballast material in the pickup truck box or cargo bed. Such ballast normally consists of sand bags, cement blocks, metal plates, or other heavy, dense material. For safe operation, the ballast material must be contained or secured in some way to prevent it from sliding forward rapidly and striking the rear of the vehicle cab when decelerating quickly or when the vehicle engages a snow bank when plowing. Various apparatus may be used to retain such ballast, such as wooden boards placed perpendicular to the length of the vehicle and just rearward of the rear wheel wells in the cargo bed, boxes or bins of sufficient width and height to house the ballast behind the rear wheel wells in the cargo bed, or steel plates which are mechanically attached to the bed of the vehicle rearward of the rear wheel wells using fasteners of various types to facilitate a secure mount.
However, each of these proposed solutions for loss of traction is cumbersome in use, prevents the pickup truck cargo bed from being fully and efficiently used for cargo hauling due to the inclusion of ballast materials in significant portions thereof during the plowing season, and is aesthetically displeasing when the truck is viewed. In addition, the use of conventional ballast does not position the ballast to most effectively offset the weight of the plow assembly relative to the rear axle.
Accordingly, a need exists for an efficient ballast assembly for attachment to a vehicle to offset the weight of an implement such as a plow assembly which can be located in position to effectively counterbalance and offset the weight of the plow assembly, be aesthetically pleasing and unobtrusive when mounted on the vehicle, maximize cargo hauling capabilities of the vehicle, and be adapted for ease of use and installation and removal when desired.